District engineer adds to Neary Tank stats

Thank you for highlighting the Neary Tank Utilization Project (“LAH water, fire districts working to make pipes, tanks more quake-proof,” March 5).

As mentioned in the article, the project will greatly enhance the seismic reliability of the water system in Los Altos Hills. The project would not have been possible without the generous contributions of the Los Altos Hills County Fire District.

I want to clarify a few items in the article. Neary Tank No. 2 is approximately 165 feet in diameter and 20 feet high. When completely filled, it can hold enough water to fill a football field 6 feet deep. The photos depict the tank out of service. Part of the project will include repainting portions of the interior of tank, including the center roof. Once all the work is completed, the tank will be thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and tested before returning to service.

Joubin Pakpour

District engineer

Purissima Hills Water District

Railroad tracks survived another two years

The interesting “Peek into the Past” aerial photo has the caption, “In 1964, the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks were removed and the old right of way turned into today’s Foothill Expressway” (Town Crier, March 12). That change actually happened in 1966, but I have seen that error repeatedly in the Town Crier and elsewhere.

When I moved into my house in Los Altos Hills in December 1965, the railroad tracks were still in place. I was unable to drive directly to my office at Stanford because there was no Foothill Expressway yet and, of course, Interstate 280 came later still. Those tracks were not removed until at least the spring of 1966, perhaps later.

Les Earnest

Los Altos Hills

Address Main & Second before it’s too late

How long will it take for the city of Los Altos to figure out that the Second and Main intersection is an accident in progress? Will we need a specific body count in order to justify any action?

I have witnessed an ongoing, long-term barrage of near misses. This morning’s event was a pedestrian blatantly in the center of a crosswalk who had to take evasive action to avoid being run over by a self-absorbed DWS (Driving While Stupid) driver.

People continually run stop signs, drive with excessive speed, ignore crosswalks and fail to yield, as their oh-so-narcissistic life is far too important to worry about anything or anyone else. Pathetic.

OK, city council, what does it take to get something done? Or does having someone seriously hurt simply start the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” discussion after the fact?

Kurt Ayers

Los Altos

Celebrate acts of valor on Medal of Honor Day

The U.S. Congress declared March 25 National Medal of Honor Day 24 years ago, yet many Americans are not even aware of the observance.

Congress selected the date to commemorate the first presentation of the medal March 25, 1863. Then-Secretary of War Edwin McMasters Stanton awarded medals to six Union volunteers from Ohio, members of Andrews’ Raiders, for their valor during the Civil War. President George H.W. Bush signed it into law Nov. 15, 1990, and the first celebration of National Medal of Honor Day became March 25, 1991.

Pvt. Jacob Wilson Parrott, 19, was the first recipient. He was the youngest surviving member of Andrews’ Raiders, volunteers who had penetrated nearly 200 miles into confederate territory to steal a steam locomotive, “The General,” with the mission of destroying the Confederate tracks from Big Shanty, Ga., to Chattanooga, Tenn.

National Medal of Honor Day recognizes those men and the one woman who have received the nation’s highest award for personal acts of valor above and beyond the call of duty. It is presented to military personnel who distinguish themselves “conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity” in combat with an enemy of the U.S.

There are presently 77 living recipients, of which seven are from World War II. The oldest living Medal of Honor recipient is Robert Dale Maxwell, 93, born in Boise, Idaho, Oct. 26, 1920.

President Barack Obama was scheduled to award Medals of Honor March 18 to 24 veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Let us honor and remember those who possessed such extraordinary valor in combat and thereby earned our nation’s highest award for military valor, the Medal of Honor.